Threat intensity widens fear generalization gradients.

Dunsmoor, Joseph E.; Kroes, Marijn C. W.; Braren, Stephen H.; Phelps, Elizabeth A.

doi:10.1037/bne0000186

Cited by 70 publications

(66 citation statements)

References 59 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…This was in part due to outliers, but also due to enhanced SCRs to both the CS-and CS+, per the followup analyses. This finding is consistent with research suggesting that fear generalization is more likely to occur with stronger UCSs (Dunsmoor, Kroes, Braren, & Phelps, 2017). In some instances, generalization may interfere with differential conditioning (i.e., the participant responds nearly as strongly to the CS-as to the CS+), which diminishes the differential SCR.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

“…Towards the end of extinction participants' SCRs to the CS-was significantly larger than their SCRs to the CS+ and during reinstatement there was no difference in SCRs to the CS+ and SCRs to the CS-. Generalization of fear is particularly common with anxious samples (Duits et al, 2016;Lissek et al, 2005) and with the use of more intense unconditioned stimuli (Dunsmoor et al, 2017); our post-hoc analyses suggest that the use of the compound UCS predicted generalization in our sample. Furthermore, it is noteworthy that the direction of the PRE effect was reversed (reflecting an effect size of g = 0.14 in the expected direction of lower reinstatement for the PRE group) when reactivity to the CS+ alone was considered (without consideration of the CS-), providing support for the hypothesis that fear generalization to the CS-hindered our ability to detect a PRE effect.…”

Section: Other Potential Explanations For Lack Of a Pre Effectmentioning

confidence: 46%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Exploring the boundaries of post-retrieval extinction in healthy and anxious individuals

Kredlow

Orr

Otto

2018

Behaviour Research and Therapy

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Over a dozen studies have examined the efficacy of post-retrieval extinction (PRE) in healthy adults in the fear conditioning laboratory, with a recent meta-analysis reporting an overall small-moderate effect on attenuating the return of fear compared to standard extinction. The current study was designed to extend PRE effects to a mixed sample of healthy and anxious individuals, explore potential moderators, and examine the benefit of PRE for a memory conditioned over multiple days. Healthy (n = 49) and anxious (n = 43) adults received either one day of acquisition followed by PRE, one day of acquisition followed by extinction, or three days of acquisition followed by PRE. Comparing participants who received one day of acquisition followed by PRE or extinction, no significant effect of PRE was observed on differential skin conductance response reinstatement or reactivity to the conditioned stimulus alone. Anxiety symptoms did not moderate outcomes. There was no difference in return of fear for anxious participants who received three days of acquisition followed by PRE versus one day of acquisition followed by PRE. These results further highlight the variability of findings in the PRE literature and need for further examination of individual difference factors that may moderate PRE effects.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Section: Other Potential Explanations For Lack Of a Pre Effectmentioning

confidence: 46%

Exploring the boundaries of post-retrieval extinction in healthy and anxious individuals

Kredlow

Orr

Otto

2018

Behaviour Research and Therapy

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Chemogenetic stimulation of cellular activity in the ZI and targeted stimulation of GABAergic cells in the ZI reduced generalized fear responses normally observed after training animals under high-threat conditions. Increasing threat intensities broaden generalization gradients in humans (34). In accordance with these data, we found that animals trained under high-threat conditions (0.8-mA foot-shocks) generalized fear to both conditioned (CS + ) and neutral (CS − ) tones, whereas animals trained under low-threat conditions (0.3-mA footshocks) did not demonstrate such generalization.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 87%

Modulation of fear generalization by the zona incerta

Venkataraman

Brody²,

Reddi³

et al. 2019

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Fear expressed toward threat-associated stimuli is an adaptive behavioral response. In contrast, the generalization of fear responses toward nonthreatening cues is a maladaptive and debilitating dimension of trauma-and anxiety-related disorders. Expressing fear to appropriate stimuli and suppressing fear generalization require integration of relevant sensory information and motor output. While thalamic and subthalamic brain regions play important roles in sensorimotor integration, very little is known about the contribution of these regions to the phenomenon of fear generalization. In this study, we sought to determine whether fear generalization could be modulated by the zona incerta (ZI), a subthalamic brain region that influences sensory discrimination, defensive responses, and retrieval of fear memories. To do so, we combined differential intensity-based auditory fear conditioning protocols in mice with C-FOS immunohistochemistry and designer receptors exclusively activated by designer drugs (DREADDs)-based manipulation of neuronal activity in the ZI. C-FOS immunohistochemistry revealed an inverse relationship between ZI activation and fear generalization: The ZI was less active in animals that generalized fear. In agreement with this relationship, chemogenetic inhibition of the ZI resulted in fear generalization, while chemogenetic activation of the ZI suppressed fear generalization. Furthermore, targeted stimulation of GABAergic cells in the ZI reduced fear generalization. To conclude, our data suggest that stimulation of the ZI could be used to treat fear generalization in the context of trauma-and anxiety-related disorders. trauma | posttraumatic stress disorder | subthalamic | fear inhibition | anxiety E xpressing fear toward cues that have previously been associated with trauma is adaptive (conditioned fear). Equally adaptive is the expression of fear toward stimuli that closely resemble traumatic cues (fear generalization). Such generalization of fear allows the organism to be "better safe than sorry." However, fear generalization can diminish quality of life and is a highly debilitating dimension of trauma-and anxiety-related disorders like posttraumatic stress disorder and generalized anxiety disorder (1-4). Reducing fear generalization, while maintaining adaptive fear responses, will reduce the daily burden experienced by individuals living with these disorders and requires identifying neural circuitry that could modulate fear generalization.Brain regions such as the lateral amygdala (5-7), central amygdala (8,9), prefrontal cortex (10, 11), hippocampus (3, 12), and bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (13, 14) have been implicated in fear generalization. More importantly, these regions play crucial roles in detecting threats and assigning valence to environmental stimuli (15-18). Therefore, while manipulating these regions could potentially reduce fear generalization, doing so might compromise threat detection, conditioned fear, and survival. In this study, we set out to ask whether targeting brain ...

show abstract

“…While our results demonstrate that an aversive experience influenced the skilled walking score, all the other stress-related endpoints in the ladder rung walking test (immobility time and trial time) were unaffected. The lack of between-group differences in these endpoints, particularly the immobility time, could be interpreted as evidence that reduced walking adaptability in the shock group was not associated to the classical generalization of fear, which may occur after some aversive experiences [21]. This reinforces our hypothesis that suffering an extinction-resistance aversive memory might be the basis to change the emotional load and the ability to adapt walking, consequently.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 75%

Can an aversive, extinction-resistant memory trigger impairments in walking adaptability? An experimental study using adult rats

Medeiros

Myskiw

Baptista

et al. 2018

Neuroscience Letters

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Cognitive demands can influence the adaptation of walking, a crucial skill to maintain body stability and prevent falls. Whilst previous research has shown emotional load tunes goal-directed movements, little attention has been given to this finding. This study sought to assess the effects of suffering an extinction-resistant memory on skilled walking performance in adult rats, as an indicator of walking adaptability. Thus, 36 Wistar rats were divided in a two-part experiment. In the first part (n=16), the aversive, extinction-resistance memory paradigm was established using a fear-conditioning chamber. In the second, rats (n=20) were assessed in a neutral room using the ladder rung walking test before and tree days after inducing an extinction-resistance memory. In addition, the elevated plus-maze test was used to control the influence of the anxiety-like status on gait adaptability. Our results revealed the shock group exhibited worse walking adaptability (lower skilled walking score), when compared to the sham group. Moreover, the immobility time in the ladder rung walking test was similar to the controls, suggesting that gait adaptability performance was not a consequence of the fear generalization. No anxiety-like behavior was observed in the plus maze test. Finally, correlation coefficients also showed the skilled walking performance score was positively correlated with the number of gait cycles and trial time in the ladder rung walking test and the total crossings in the plus maze. Overall, these preliminary findings provide evidence to hypothesize an aversive, extinction-resistant experience might change the emotional load, affecting the ability to adapt walking.

show abstract

Threat intensity widens fear generalization gradients.

Cited by 70 publications

References 59 publications

Exploring the boundaries of post-retrieval extinction in healthy and anxious individuals

Exploring the boundaries of post-retrieval extinction in healthy and anxious individuals

Modulation of fear generalization by the zona incerta

Can an aversive, extinction-resistant memory trigger impairments in walking adaptability? An experimental study using adult rats

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About